When Jack's alarm went off the next morning, the house was quiet. He could hear snoring on the other side of the wall, meaning Gareth was asleep. Thank god. Once showered and dressed, Jack popped a couple pain killers for his aching torso and headed downstairs.

"Morning." He smiled a tiny smile at his mom, who was sitting at the dining room table drinking coffee.

"Good morning." She smiled back. "Got any exciting plans today?"

"It's Monday." Jack mused as he pulled the box of corn flakes out of the cupboard. "How much excitement could there be?"

"That's fair." She sipped her coffee and watched her son prepare himself a bowl of cereal.

"Just school and karate." Jack sighed and dropped into his chair.

"What time will you be at the dojo until?"

"I dunno. Until Rudy kicks me out."

"So, late?"

"Probably, yeah."

They sat in silence for a minute or two, Jack slowly munching on his breakfast, his mom quickly draining her coffee cup. Once her first cup of morning elixir was gone, she got up to refill it. When she turned her back to Jack, he jumped up from the table before the sight even registered.

"Mom…" her hair was tied up in a messy bun, leaving the back of her neck exposed, allowing Jack to see the purple handprint peeking out from the collar of her robe.

"It's nothing, Jack." She quickly turned around and tried to give a reassuring smile, but failed miserably as her face contorted into a grimace. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"Why do you stay with him?" He blurted without thinking. His mom looked shocked. As much as that question had hung between them for the last five years, neither of them had ever asked it aloud. "Why? He treats you horribly. You deserve so much better."

"Jack…" she leaned back against the counter and pinched the bridge of her nose. "It's more complicated than you may think…"

"What's complicated about it?" he was practically begging. "He throws me around, does nothing but scream at us and treat you like a servant, sleeps with every woman he sees, sells drugs for a living-!"

"Jack. Stop."

"No, mom. I need an answer. I need to know why you stay with him."

"Well… Maybe if you didn't challenge him all the time he wouldn't be so quick to-"

"Are you serious?" Jack interrupted.

"You do have a habit of talking back and picking fights." She shrugged, refusing to make eye contact. "If you just backed down he might not feel the need to beat you so often."

Jack's mouth hung open for a second before he shook his head and regained focus. "You do realize that I'm a second degree blackbelt, don't you? I could easily defend myself against him. Hell, I could kick his ass any time I want."

"So why don't you?" The question wasn't a challenge, more of a desperate curiosity.

"Because the more energy he uses knocking me around, the less likely he is to hurt you."

Now it was his mom's turn to stare slack jaw and search for thoughts. "Jack… Baby… I-"

"Forget it." Jack grabbed his bags and board, stuck his helmet on, and headed for the door. "I gotta go to school."

"Okay… I love you." His mom called down the small flight of stairs as he stepped into his shoes.

"Bye." Was all he said back.

Jack went through his usual morning routine of riding to the dojo, dropping off his gym bag, then heading to the school. He was running early due to his fight with his mom, so when he got to school he planted himself on the bench near his locker and pulled out his phone. Or. He tried to pull out his phone.

"What the-? Damnit." He'd left his phone on the charger in his room since he hadn't plugged it in the night before. "That's great." He sighed to himself. For once, he wished he had some homework to fill his time. He checked the clock, and didn't have enough time to get home and back before school started. If he was late one more time he'd get detention. "Well… today will be fun."


Sorry about the previously broken chapter, I have no clue what was up with that. Thank you to the friend who pointed it out!